Sprouting seeds

No rain for us. We had an inch of rain recently, but it doesn’t last long in this hot weather. (Note: I do not expect any sympathy from California residents.) We started the morning so hopefully, watching green on the radar moving in from the west. We got two drops of rain at 10:30, and that was that. The tadpole vernal pond, by the way, is long gone. I don’t know if the tadpoles made it to metamorphosis or not, but all the raccoon prints in the mud suggested that they ended up as hors d’oeuvres.

And so we water, thankful that we put in the drip lines right away. The garlic, onions, and potatoes have been weeded. For a brief period of time, we can tell ourselves that we are caught up. A few of the potatoes are already quite large. Others are just below the surface. I am proud that I only whacked off one with the hoe. It takes a gentle touch until the plants are clearly visible.

The biggest potato so far

Planting the hills of cantaloupe is tricky. The dripper causes erosion, so the crap shoot is trying to plant the seeds where they won’t get washed away. I got lucky on this hill.

Cantaloupe sprouts not washed out by the dripper

The zucchini and patty pan are also sprouted.

Patty pan sprouts

The corn is up. Soon there will be the life and death decisions of which will be thinned and which will remain. My tendency is to leave too many. I have found that reminding myself what a lot of work it is to dig up the stalks at the end of the season goads me to ruthlessness.

Corn seedlines

A few of the tomatoes have flowers. It’s a tease. There won’t be tomatoes for many weeks yet.

Tomato blossoms

We have a volunteer patch of yellow hawkweed near the fifth oak. It is obviously spreading by roots. I kept it mowed last year, and the population just got larger. This year I let it flower just to see what it would look like. What I have learned is that the flowers open in the morning and close at night. I’ll probably mow it down next time. The yellow hawkweed isn’t as pretty as the orange variety.

The whole patch of hawkweed

Yellow hawkweed up close